It is so important with affiliate marketing that you constantly recruit new partners. There are so many huge brands that join affiliate programs to house offers for their loyalty programs. They could not possibly arrange direct deals with hundreds of merchants, so working via GAN, CJ, LinkShare, etc… helps them supplement their paid advertising revenue.
Often you can negotiate with them without paying a paid placement fee. You can simply bump up the commission during a set time frame for a campaign, and sometimes, they don’t even want anything, they simply like what you have to offer and feel the value is good for their customers.
InkCartridges.com on the Hilton Honors web site portal.
A perfect example of this is the Hilton brand. They have a company named Loylogic that manages the online loyalty program for them. One of my clients, InkCartridges.com was lucky enough to have been listed last month on the site. As a result of this placement, we had thousands of dollars in sales stem from the partnership.
GEICO Privileges is a web-based marketing campaign which launched in 2002 for GEICO’s current “policyholder” and “non-policy” customers. Customers must be registered members. The campaign features many special offers, discounts, interactive tips & tools, and helpful advice for everyday life. All merchant categories are accepted!
SlickWraps is a start-up client that sells skins for iPhone, HTC, iPad, MacBooks and other mobile electronics. We were lucky enough to be featured in a recent issue of the Geico Privileges newsletter that went out to over 1 million members.
Geico Privileges Newsletter with SlickWraps feature
Although the results from this did not meet my sales expectations, I was pleased with the exposure that the brand received from the mention. How else would I be able to reach that many people without a huge media buy? I am hoping that when the time comes and those Geico customers are in the market for our product, they will remember the SlickWraps name.
Bottom line: Keep a look out for these types of deals in the networks and don’t be afraid to reach out, even if you are not a household name. You never know!
Affiliate Program Tips for Merchants 